News from the School of Public Health

The tobacco industry has a long and disgraceful history of marketing to specific groups identified as susceptible to addiction, including LGBTQ people. A new research initiative funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maryland Department of Health’s Center for Tobacco Prevention and Control and led by the UMD Prevention Research Center aims to reduce tobacco related health disparities among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning communities in Maryland.

We are proud of all of the participants that contributed to the richness of the 2022 SPH Research, Practice and Innovation Poster Session and Student Poster Competition.

Caring for young children is tough work, full of stressors and challenges that even the best equipped parents struggle with. Young mothers with a history of being abused or neglected as children must cope with their trauma, the uncertainties of young adulthood and the constant demands inherent in caring for small children. 

A recent $200,000 grant from Cigna Foundation to the Maryland Center for Health Equity (M-CHE) in the University of Maryland (UMD) School of Public Health will expand the center’s efforts to save lives in Black and Latino communities using authentic conversations and lifestyle behavior change strategies focused on promoting health and preventing disease. 

Medicare recipients with mental health disorders are falling through the cracks. Though one in four Medicare beneficiaries, who are primarily adults over age 65, have been diagnosed with mental health or substance use disorders, Medicare coverage does not recognize licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs) or licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs) as approved providers. 

The University of Maryland School of Public Health is ranked No. 19 on the U.S. News & World Report 2023 list of Best Public Health Schools in the country released on March 29.